Workers that are afflicted by certain medical and mental conditions are sometimes eligible for monthly benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Being unable to work your job might mean you have been out of work for some time. If you've not worked enough recently, you might have problems with something called the date of last insurance (DLI). Read on and learn more about the importance of this date as you apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.

You Are Insured by SSDI

The word "insurance" in the name of the benefit lends a clue to the way benefits accumulate. In most circumstances, workers must pay FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) through a deduction from their pay. The deduction goes toward contributions for SSDI, Social Security retirement, SSI, and Medicare. When a worker is no longer able to work due to an affliction, their eligibility for benefits is determined, in part, by FICA contributions. When you are not working, it's almost as if your insurance premium is lapsing and that may affect your benefits.

How Long Have You Been Contributing to FICA?

The SSA won't approve SSDI benefits if it's been over 10 years since you have last earned income and paid into FICA. That is not the only limit to know about, though. Within the last 10 years (not the last 10 years you have worked), you must have earned money and paid FICA for at least five of those 10. The time for the look back begins when you stop working at your job. That is your DLI.

Exceptions to the Rules

If you are younger (under 31) or blind, the SSA uses less-stringent rules to approve afflicted applicants. Many workers, however, run up against the rules when they have been disabled for a long time and delayed applying for benefits for one reason or another. Fortunately, if the applicant can show that they became afflicted by a medical condition before they stopped working, they may enter what the SSA calls a protective filing status. Unfortunately, getting approved for benefits this way can be very difficult. You must have sufficient medical evidence from the time you became disabled so medical treatment proof is vital.

Not only can an approval be more challenging if you haven't worked five of the last 10 years, but nearly everyone that applies for SSDI gets turned down. The SSA, however, allows denied applicants to appeal their case at a hearing. You only have so much time to let the SSA know you want to appeal the ruling and you have the right to be represented by a Social Security lawyer at the hearing. Your need for benefits is too great to miss this chance for benefits and the situation is far too complicated to pass up using legal help. Speak to a Social Security lawyer as soon as you find out about your denial. Contact a company like Attorney John B. Martin Law Offices to learn more.

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